


In Reverse

by catteo



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 04:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catteo/pseuds/catteo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt 'I didn't even cry / because pieces of me had already died'</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Reverse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [earnmysong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/earnmysong/gifts).



In that moment, he bears his soul. She sees the hope blossom in his eyes, a brutal reminder of the losses yet to come. It almost wrecks her. The knowledge that this _other_ version of her can tear down the walls he has carefully built around his heart. She knows only too well the price of belief. She has paid it in blood, with innocent lives. She closes her eyes and refuses to feel the truth of him. Breathes in his whispered thanks. Exhales. Walks away.

+++

She chases. Wonders if the red heat in his veins can melt the ice in her heart. Sinks her fangs into the soft flesh. Tastes the vitality within. Blood slides across her tongue, slick with empty promises. He was never more than the means to an end. She wonders if it might be hers. Marvels that she still cares. They rip out everything that he is. Take his heart. It was never theirs to have. Only hers.

+++

Katherine whispers hollow words. Love, cherish, hold. All lies. He saves her anyway. She glides across a slick, bloodstained floor. Unblinking eyes stare a silent accusation. Condemnation frozen on his face. She leaves him with the moonstone. A promise kept.

+++

She feels. Fights it with sharp teeth and bloody nails. Allows unlikely saviours to bring her world into focus. Sharp colours and brighter dreams. She reveals herself in the night. Shows them honesty. Rewards fear with a new truth. Betrays love with a smile. She changes them both. Darkness and light. Hopes one day they’ll understand. Aches as she shatters their dreams. Fears that it’s sorrow. Runs.

+++

Hunger. It drives her onwards. Across vast lands. Frozen lakes. She closes her heart. Swears not to look back at the wreckage of her past. Dreams of searing flames and tortured innocents. Wakes in the night with a hand at her throat. Feels the harsh burn of rope on fragile skin. Can taste the hot, salty tang of absolute endings. Katherine creates a brittle shell of the girl she once was. Displays her falsehoods to the world. Swears that blood will make them true.

+++

She looks down at the child in her arms. Delicate. Breakable. Hungers for the feel of each heartbeat against her skin. Whispers promises to love and cherish. To never let go. Lies in slanted beams of light and gives away her heart. Falls asleep believing in a future full of hope. Wakes to silence. Breaks into a thousand grieving shards. Tastes the sweet-salt water of her own tears.


End file.
